Authentic Consulting

The degree to which we support ourselves in the workplace affects our personal feelings of success and satisfaction. The temptation to neglect our own needs can be strong as we focus on important deadlines, our colleagues, superiors, staff and countless other things. However, we benefit greatly when we pay attention to ourselves first. When we prioritise our needs and tend to them we are practicing healthy self-support. As a consequence, we are better equipped to identify solutions for tasks and cope with obstacles more effectively.Click here to read more

What do you do when the deadlines at work start piling up?Do you “work harder” by cancelling your social activities, shirking your personal responsibilities and working long hours each week - throwing all of your own available resources into meeting those project timelines?A strong professional is usually not afraid to work hard to accomplish corporate goals and understands that personal sacrifice goes with the territory.However, sometimes we get enticed into playing “super-professional” and we forget to ask the question: Is what I’m being asked to do by others (or myself) reasonable for me to accomplish, on my own and in the time frame given?Sometimes the answer is “Yes, no problem!”Sometimes the answer is ‘No-it is not reasonable’.If this is the case, then it is time to discuss “working smarter”: project timeline amendments, additional resources, brainstorming for creative solutions or recognition of what is “good enough” or adequate.If we just put the “head-down and bum-up” in these instances - work harder - we may get the job done, but at too great of a personal cost to the professional, especially if a pattern or tendency forms.Click here to read more

Most of us make judgements.Most of us also know what it feels like to be judged.When that judgement is not in our favour, it is usually an overall bad feeling.So, it is important to be aware that when we judge others or make statements with judgements, we can inadvertently push people away and impair our ability to maintain healthy contact.With damaged relationships, when the time comes for people to listen to our opinions or ideas, they may have already closed the door.Click here to read more

Most of us agree that team playing is a good practice in the workplace.However, we all have different ideas about what is team playing.We rarely sit down and define what that means or describe how it looks.Misunderstandings can occur when we think a particular action is consistent with a team playing atmosphere and someone else disagrees or views that action differently.Click here to read more

Aggressive interpersonal dynamics operate in many organisations.This type of conduct often develops when pressure mounts in association with big money, entrenched politics, extreme cases of health and safety, strict timelines and fierce competition.In order to accomplish tasks under difficult circumstances, some people will resort to aggressive tactics.Others are tempted to act aggressively in this atmosphere in self-defense and in response to “attacks”.In this way, aggressive behaviour can spread like a virus in organisations.Click here to read more

How we recognise workplace stress and what we do about it is extremely important for healthy functioning and longevity – both personally and professionally.Our bodies are not designed to live in a chronically stressed state.They are really designed to efficiently deal with acute stressors and then to have periods of rest in between stressful events.Because chronic workplace stress often accumulates gradually over long periods of time, it can be difficult to notice and even harder to manage.It can be compounded if personal life stresses bleed into the workplace when the boundary between personal and professional life is weakly maintained.Click here to read more

Workaholism is about a person’s dysfunctional relationship with the workplace.The condition can occur and become deeply entrenched with or without notice.How it manifests is different for each person.A commonality, however, is that either the workaholic or someone else – a partner, friend, relative, colleague, manager or other - recognises that the work gets in the way of other important relationships and personal interests.The work takes sustained precedence over those entities for a lengthy period of time.Workaholism can be so acute that the workaholic no longer acknowledges or values many pursuits outside of work.Also, the workaholic may think that there is nothing more important or more worthy of his or her time and may also believe that he or she is happy with this state of affairs.Click here to read more

The language of cooperation is an important art that helps build and maintain healthy relationships that are critical for conveyance of technical ideas and execution of corporate projects.To enable cooperative language fluency, the cooperative attitude must originate in the mind.This involves acknowledging that we need others in order to accomplish workplace goals and for healthy workplace functioning.It also involves accepting that while we may be experts, very good at our jobs and potentially great leaders:-we may not have all the answers – or the best answers,-we may not produce the only valid strategies and tactics-there are many different sensible ways of doing things.When the attitude of cooperation is clear in the mind, then the appropriate words, the tone and the gestures will usually follow more naturally.Click here to read more